News

The Dubai Road & Transport Authority (RTA) has introduced yet another “special” number plate for cars, just a few months after introducing an optional new logo design for purchase. There’s also a compulsory new motorcycle number plate.

Some carmakers change a couple of headlights and shamelessly call their facelifted model an “all-new” car because, you know, we’re all idiots. However, Honda held a rather late media-drive event for their already-launched 2015 CR-V and they kept reiterating that it is, indeed, just a minor update. But from what we could see, there seems to be some substantial changes under the familiar skin.

The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has just unveiled the city’s first electric-vehicle charging stations. EV owners, what few of them there are, can now charge their car around the city at these stations for a small fee.

The popular Renault Duster underwent a facelift a year ago in its home market of Europe, but its launch was delayed in the GCC for whatever reason. A facelifted version has now officially been launched at an event in Abu Dhabi, with some minor but important features, as well as a different grille.

The only electric cars you’ll ever see in the GCC are at golf clubs, with little wheels and no doors. Sure, there are the unloved Lexus hybrids, there was that pricey Fisker Karma with the backup petrol engine, and some Chevy Volts were spotted testing in Dubai before disappearing for obvious reasons, but there are big things happening this week on the electric front. Dubai’s DEWA utility company has just announced the first dedicated charging station here for electric cars, in what is to become a network all over Dubai soon. And Renault is hoping to bank on that with the Zoe hatchback and the Twizy runabout.

Rolls-Royce is going to build a 4×4. In a joint statement by chairman Peter Schwarzenbauer and chief executive Torsten Müller-Ötvös, the new car is not unprecedented for the brand and reflected Rolls-Royce’s rugged roots.

Mercedes-Benz make some very nice luxury cars. In fact, we really liked the new S-Class and the newer C-Class when we briefly drove them around town a few months ago. Mercedes-AMG make some very fast cars. In fact, they make those fast cars simply by upgrading their luxury cars with bigger engines and stiffer suspension. They go very fast in a straight line. But when you reach a corner, one of two things happen at the limit — if ESP is on, you are made to slow down and understeer forcefully, but if you turn off the ESP nannies,

If you didn’t quite figure out from the photos, this is not a regular G-Wagen. This is the 2015 Mercedes-Benz G 500 4×4², with a squared at the end of the name just to annoy us. And it’s lifted from the factory.